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It’s been 26 years since Yaw died of malaria, but the circumstances of his death remains a daily reminder for his parents. This was more so for his father, Uncle Kobena. Anytime Uncle Kobena came across children he reckoned were his son’s age mates, his mind raced to memories of his deceased son.
Yaw was about five years when he died at the Abor clinic, a private health facility operated by one doctor Fennec, who is also deceased. The clinic, which has now been converted to a morgue, is located at the outskirt of Ekumfi Eyisam on the Accra-Mankessim road in the Ekumfi District of the Central region.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Nearly 3 million people from Mangochi, Balaka and Nkhata Bay are safe from malaria. This follows a successful Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) project by World Vision and the Ministry of Health, informed by a review of malaria prevention interventions organised by World Vision and the Malawi Ministry of Health.
Celebrating the milestone, Deputy Director in the Ministry of Health responsible for malaria prevention, National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) Doctor Michael Kayange said this is important considering the need to keep malaria in check, especially now that the country is also grappling with COVID-19.
“We have done so well, because our spray coverage is over 90% in all the districts where we have rolled out IRS. Consequently, we have also reduced malaria incidences by over 50% in Mangochi [and Nkhotakota] where we started implementing the project earlier on”, said Kayange. He later stressed on the need for people to stay vigilant wi
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Low usage of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Bed Nets (LLITNs) identified in New Juaben South Municipality remain a grave challenge to Ghana’s drive in achieving zero malaria.
This is because many people in the Municipal capital, Koforidua, in the Eastern Region, though have access to the treated nets, fail to use them due to social myths and perceptions.
Some claimed they had no space to hang the nets because of their large family sizes, while others said it was uncomfortable sleeping under it as it produced heat.
This came to light in a survey conducted by Ghana News Agency between January and February 2021 in over 12 communities within the Municipality.
Indoor Residual Spraying; key to achieving zero Malaria in North East region graphic.com.gh - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from graphic.com.gh Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Malaria is still a major public health problem in Ghana even though, the country has seen significant improvement in its fight against the disease over the years. These gains that the country has chalked so far in relation to reducing the malaria burden could be attributed to the several malaria control interventions implemented in line with its National Strategic Plan. The Ghanaian population are reached interventions such as the Distribution of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) through mass campaigns, Indoor Residual spraying for areas with high parasite prevalence, Larval Source Management, Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC), Prevention of malaria in pregnancy, adherence to test treat and track initiative and supported with advocacy and behaviour change communications as well as monitoring and evaluation and surveillance.